Euscorpius
Occasional Publications in Scorpiology
A New Scorpion Species of the Genus Buthus Leach, 1815
(Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Morocco
Wilson R. Lourenço and Philippe Geniez
January 2005 – No. 19
Euscorpius
Occasional Publications in Scorpiology
EDITOR: Victor Fet, Marshall University, ‘[email protected]’
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael E. Soleglad, ‘[email protected]’
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Publication date: 28 January 2005
Euscorpius — Occasional Publications in Scorpiology. 2005, No. 19
A new scorpion species of the genus Buthus Leach, 1815
(Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Morocco
Wilson R. Lourenço 1 and Philippe Geniez 2
1
Département de Systématique et Evolution, USM 0602, Section Arthropodes (Arachnologie), Muséum national
d’Histoire naturelle, CP 053, 61 rue Buffon 75005 Paris, France; e-mail: [email protected]
2
Laboratoire de Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertébrés de l’E.P.H.E., Université Montpellier 2, 34095
Montpellier-cedex 5, France; e-mail: [email protected]
Summary
A new species belonging to the genus Buthus Leach (Scorpiones, Buthidae) is described from northeast of Tarfaya
in the extreme southwest of Morocco. The new species does not belong to the “Buthus occitanus species complex”,
but is rather associated with Buthus atlantis Pocock, species also known from the southern of Morocco. With the
description of Buthus bonito sp. n., the number of known species of Buthus present in Morocco is raised to 12. A
checklist of these species is provided.
Introduction
As already explained in several previous papers
(Lourenço, 2002, 2003, in press; Lourenço & Slimani,
2004) the taxonomy of the genus Buthus Leach has
remained complex and confused for a long while. In a
series of publications, concluded in a monograph about
North African scorpions, Vachon (1952) attempted to
establish a better definition of the genus and transferred
several species, which previously belonged to it, to other
genera (see Lourenço, 2003, for details). The classification proposed by Vachon (1952) for the species of Buthus, and in particular for Buthus occitanus ‘complex’
remained unsatisfactory, however, mainly because of the
existence of several poorly defined subspecies and even
varieties (although the latter category is not accepted by
the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,
Article 45).
Only recently, a more precise definition of the Buthus species has been attempted by Lourenço (2002,
2003) and Lourenço & Slimani (2004), with the description of several new species and the promotion of some
subspecies to species rank. Even if these contributions
clarified the status of several species of Buthus, in particular from Morocco, the status of other species remains
confusing.
This is still the case of several Buthus populations
from the sub-Sahara (Sahel) regions of Africa, distributed mainly from Senegal to Niger and Sudan. Vachon
(1949, 1952) referred to these populations as Buthus
occitanus but without any reference to a precise subspecies. In a recent study (Lourenço, in press), I was able to
locate some well preserved specimens of Buthus from
Guinea and Senegal, and a new species was described
for this population. The interesting surprise was the fact
that this new species was not associated with Buthus
occitanus as suggested by Vachon (1949, 1952), but
rather with Buthus atlantis Pocock, species known only
from the south of Morocco. The description of this new
species clarified the status of at least one population
from the Sahel.
In the present paper, another new species of Buthus,
also associated with Buthus atlantis is described from
the extreme southwest of Morocco. One interesting point
is the fact that specimens from this Buthus population
were not collected before, and it never had being the
subject of any study or comments in any previous publication.
Buthus bonito sp. n. (Figs. 1–10)
Type material. Morocco, northeast of Tarfaya, near to
the Khnifiss lagoon, 31/V/2004 (M. Aymerich leg.); 1
male holotype, 2 female paratypes*. Deposited in the
Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.
*
female specimens are still alive. They will be subsequently
deposited in the Muséum’s collections after biological observations.
2
Euscorpius — 2005, No. 19
Figures 1–3: Buthus bonito sp. n.
Male holotype. 1. Chelicera, dorsal
aspect. 2. Metasomal segment V and
telson, lateral aspect. 3. Granulation on
the dentate margins of the pedipalp
chela movable finger.
Etymology. The name ‘bonito’ (beautiful in Spanish),
makes reference to the beautiful color of the new species. Curiously, Spanish still is one of the European
languages used in the extreme southwest of Morocco, an
area corresponding to a part of the former Spanish Sahara.
Diagnosis
Scorpions of medium size, reaching a total length of 50
to 55 mm. General coloration very pale yellow, with
only some slightly darker zones over the carapace and
median carina of tergites, chelicera finger denticles,
oblique rows of granules on pedipalp fingers and extremity of aculeus. These parts are blackish in juveniles
that exhibit a more contrasted pattern than that of Buthus
atlantis. Venter, pedipalps and legs very pale yellow.
Carinae and granulations moderate to weak. Fixed and
movable fingers with 10–11 rows of granules in both
sexes. Pectines with 34–33 teeth in male and 29–29 and
34–34 in females. Male pectines very long and largely
overlapping in their proximal region.
Description based on male holotype (measurements
in Table 1)
Coloration. Basically very pale yellow, with only some
slightly darker zones over the carapace and median
carina of tergites, chelicera finger denticles, oblique
rows of granules on pedipalp fingers and extremity of
aculeus. Prosoma: carapace yellowish, with carinae
slightly dark brown; eyes surrounded by black pigment.
Mesosoma: tergites yellowish; median carina brownish.
Metasoma: all segments and vesicle yellowish; aculeus
yellowish at its base and blackish at its extremity. Venter
pale yellow. Chelicerae yellowish without any variegated spots; fingers yellowish with reddish to blackish
teeth. Pedipalps: yellowish; fingers with the oblique
rows of granules dark reddish to blackish. Legs yellowish without any spots.
Morphology. Carapace moderately granular; anterior
margin with a very weak concavity, almost straight.
Carinae moderate; anterior median, central median and
posterior median carinae moderately granular; ‘lyre’
configuration can, however, be well observed. All furrows moderate. Median ocular tubercle at the centre of
carapace. Eyes separated by two and half ocular diameters. Four pairs of lateral eyes: the first three of moderate
size, the last one only vestigial. Sternum very small and
triangular, wider than long. Mesosoma: tergites with a
thin but intense granulation. Three longitudinal carinae;
lateral carinae absent in tergites I and II; vestigial on III
and reduced on IV to VI. Tergite VII pentacarinate.
Venter: genital operculum divided longitudinally, and
formed by two semi oval plates. Pectines: pectinal tooth
count 34–33 in male holotype, and 29–29, 34–34 in
female paratypes; middle basal lamella of the pectines
not dilated in both sexes. Sternites smooth, with elongated spiracles; four carinae on sternite VII; other sternites without carinae and with two weak furrows. Me-
Lourenço & Geniez: A New Species of Buthus
3
Figures 4–8: Buthus bonito sp. n. Male holotype. Trichobothrial pattern. 4–5. Chela, dorso-external and ventral aspects. 6–7.
Patella, dorsal and external aspects. 8. Femur, dorsal aspect.
4
Euscorpius — 2005, No. 19
Morocco
Algeria
*
170 km
100 mi
Figure 9: Map of Morocco, showing the site where the new species was collected (black star).
Total length
Carapace:
- length
- anterior width
- posterior width
Metasomal segment I:
- length
- width
Metasomal segment V:
- length
- width
- depth
Vesicle:
- width
- depth
Pedipalp:
- Femur length
- Femur width
- Patella length
- Patella width
- Chela length
- Chela width
- Chela depth
Movable finger: length
54.6
6.3
4.5
7.2
4.5
4.2
7.7
3.1
2.6
2.8
2.8
5.3
1.7
6.0
2.3
10.5
2.4
2.4
6.8
Table 1: Morphometric values (in mm) of the male holotype
of Buthus bonito sp. n.
tasoma: segments I to III with 10 moderately crenulated
carinae, ventral more strongly marked on segments II
and III; segment IV with 8 moderately crenulated carinae; segment V with five carinae; the ventrolateral carinae crenulate with 2/3 lobate denticles posteriorly; ventral median carina not divided posteriorly; anal arc composed of 9–10 ventral teeth, and two lateral lobes. All
segments with a smooth dorsal depression; intercarinal
smooth granular, except for the lateral and ventral aspects of segment V which presents a very thin granulation. Telson, vesicle globular with some very thin granulations on the lateral and ventral surfaces; aculeus
strongly curved, and shorter than the vesicle; subaculear
tooth absent. Cheliceral dentition as defined by Vachon
(1963) for the family Buthidae; external distal and internal distal denticles of approximately the same length;
basal denticles of movable finger small but not fused;
ventral aspect of both fingers and manus covered with
long dense setae. Pedipalps: femur pentacarinate; patella
with eight carinae; chela smooth with only vestigial
carinae on ventral surface; all faces weakly granular to
smooth. Fixed and movable fingers with 10–11 oblique
rows of granules. Internal and external accessory granules present but moderate to weak; three accessory granules on the distal end of movable finger next to the terminal denticle. Legs: tarsus (telotarsus) with two longitudinal rows of 6–7 long setae ventrally; basitarsus with
moderate bristle comb; it is, however, uncertain if the
new species could be an exclusively psammophilic element (see habitat comments); tibial spur strong on legs
Lourenço & Geniez: A New Species of Buthus
5
Figure 10: Juvenile specimen of Buthus bonito sp. n. just after molting process in its natural habitat. Note: this specimen was
not collected.
III and IV; prolateral spurs moderate to strong on legs I
to IV. Trichobothriotaxy: trichobothrial pattern of Type
A, orthobothriotaxic as defined by Vachon (1974). Dorsal trichobothria of femur arranged in β-configuration
(Vachon, 1975).
Relationships
Buthus bonito sp. n. does not belong to the “Buthus
occitanus complex of species”, but is rather associated
with Buthus atlantis Pocock. The definition of these
groups is based on carinae development. B. occitanus
related species show very strongly developed carinae,
whereas, those associated with B. atlantis have moderate
to weak carinae. The new species can, however, be distinguished from Buthus atlantis by the following characters: (i) in B. bonito sp. n. lateral carinae of tergites are
very much reduced or absent; (ii) aculeus in B. bonito
sp. n. is shorter than the vesicle and strongly curved,
whereas in B. atlantis it is longer than the vesicle and
weakly curved (see Lourenço, 2003, Figs. 20 and 24);
(iii) anal arc in the new species shows two lobes,
whereas in B. atlantis three lobes are frequently observed; (iv) adults of Buthus atlantis are much bigger in
size with 80 to 90 mm in total length; (v) juveniles exhibit a contrasted blackish and yellowish pattern while
those of B. atlantis present a relatively uniform yellowish coloration.
Check-list of the known Buthus species distributed in
Morocco
Buthus occitanus (Amoreux, 1889)
Buthus paris (C.L. Koch, 1839)
Buthus mardochei Simon, 1878
Buthus atlantis Pocock, 1889
Buthus maroccanus Birula, 1903
Buthus malhommei Vachon, 1949
Buthus mariefranceae Lourenço, 2003
Buthus rochati Lourenço, 2003
Buthus lienhardi Lourenço, 2003
Buthus albengai Lourenço, 2003
Buthus draa Lourenço & Slimani, 2004
Buthus bonito sp. n.
6
Habitat of Buthus bonito sp. n.
Buthus bonito sp. n. was observed exclusively in the area
of the Khnifiss lagoon, situated in the northeast region of
Tarfaya. This is a sand area, about 5 km from the ocean,
and corresponds to a Saharian stage presenting hot winters. The scorpion was found exclusively under limestone plates which lay on the sand. This species appears
to be very abundant in the area and was the only one
observed in the nearby area of the Khnifiss lagoon. Only
a second species, Androctonus mauritanicus (Pocock,
1902), was observed in the region between the Khnifiss
lagoon and Tarfaya.
Acknowledgements
We are most grateful to M. Michel Aymerich,
Montpellier for collecting the specimens used in this
study, and for the photo of the juvenile, taken in the type
locality; to Victor Fet, Michael Soleglad, and Graeme
Lowe for reviewing the manuscript and to Elizabeth V.
Fet for the editorial help.
References
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modèles de distribution et différentiation du genre
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Algérie (Scorpiones, Buthidae). Biogeographica, 78
(3): 109–127.
LOURENÇO, W. R. 2003. Compléments à la faune de
scorpions (Arachnida) de l’Afrique du Nord, avec
des considérations sur le genre Buthus Leach, 1815.
Revue suisse de Zoologie, 110 (4): 875–912.
LOURENÇO, W.R. 2005 (in press). Description of a
new scorpion species of the genus Buthus Leach,
Euscorpius — 2005, No. 19
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